The sounds of raindrops against the windows mixed with ticking sounds of the old grandfather clock inside the shop, created a soothing background sound.

Haze's family ran an antique clock shop in the town. After the parents passed away, Haze was actually responsible for the business, but since he always went out somewhere and was busy with his own duties, Eurydice decided to take over his part of the shop and run the place. She let her only younger brother explore outside and live in a different house on his own. She knew Haze would come visit her in his free time anyway.

The clock shop was quite old. Passed down from their grandfather to their parents, until now at Eurydice's hand. The big grandfather clock was in the corner of the room. And more clocks of different sizes hung on the wall. There were long tables on both the left and right side of the room, with a few books and tools on it. A shelf full of spare parts stood tall. Beside that table was another big shelf that was mostly made of glass, showcasing their finest creations.

In the kitchen, there was a bar table with four tall stools sitting on each side. There was a blackboard hung on the opposite wall. It was covered with all types of maps and notes. There was also a curved window with curtains hanging to shade the window. And above the curtain, there were old portraits, painted years ago. Other smaller photographs hung on the other side of the wall.

"How do you like your tea? We have green..., black or chamomile. Hm... what else does my sister have here? Ah! Coffee. Chocolate powder...then..." Haze murmured while looking through the cupboard.

Dryad watched Haze's movements as he busied himself with the preparation. Her heart was still pounding wildly no matter how much she tried to calm herself. She tried not to let the thoughts of what happened today consume her whole. But still, there was something that she needed to clarify.

She took a deep breath and spoke up,
"Um, Haze... can you tell me something about Alexey?"

Haze paused his searching for the cups. He froze for a moment and looked down.
"You want to know? Why?"

"Well... Thinking about all that happened in Another World, I need to clarify something," Dryad said.
"You keep calling Brilliant with the name Alexey. I am just curious. Why?" Dryad asked back, speaking the second 'why'.

Haze sighed. But he forced a bitter smile. For him, it was a painful truth to admit. His hand reached the drawer below the bar table. Between old notebooks, there were some photos. He picked them up and showed them to Dryad.
"This... what I want to show you."

Dryad examined each of those photos. Captured moments from young adult-hood to recently, like puzzle pieces of a big memory. Her jaw dropped as her widened eyes directly landed on someone. A very familiar figure in the pictures.

"No way... is that Alexey?" She was stunned. "You are right, he is so much like Brilliant! No wonder you are mistakenly called Brilliant with Alexey."

"See?" Haze squinted his eyes,
He cleared his throat before speaking,
"You know, I don't get it. Brilliant's face, words, and the way he led us... everything! Everything about Brilliant was exactly the same as Alexey. Another 'why', then..." he shrugged.
"You also saw how Brilliant crafted a crossbow out of junks, right?" Haze chuckled bitterly, recalling that moment, "that's how skilled Alexey was as a soldier. He was able to turn everything around him to his advantage. I had a feeling they are the same person. But... this is confusing! If Brilliant is Alexey, then who was the person I buried? I don't understand..."

"I don't understand either," Dryad also shrugged.

Haze continued brewing a cup of tea for her and a coffee for himself. He also fetched two bowls of soup for each of them before joining her at the table. Then, after handing her the steaming mug of tea and the soup, finally he sat down across from her. He rolled up his sleeves. Clearly, the clothes that he borrowed were too big for him.

"Haze, please do tell me more about Alexey."

Haze placed the spoon into his soup and stirred it carefully, "Well... what do you want to know about him?"

"I'll listen to everything you tell," Dryad answered.

Haze nodded. "Fine. I'll tell you. Where should I begin?" he paused for a moment. "Alexey was my superior."

"Superior?" Dryad asked.

Haze nodded, "Yes. You see, the fact is... that I'm not originally work for the Grand Library. I only go there in my free time, just to keep myself busy. It's a good thing that Sir Alvard doesn't mind at all and allows me to enter such an exclusive library. My true occupation is a merc. And Alexey was... de facto leader of our mercenary group."

"Mercs?" Dryad's eyes widened in surprise. She looked at Haze intently. Her eyes filled with interest. "So you're like... um.. hired soldier or something?"

"Well, you know we live in the middle of the civil war between Northundra and Westermind, so it should not be surprising to know that our government and military need all the help they could get, even from civilians like us. Now that I tell you this... I believe you will not leak this kind of secret to anyone else, right? It's a top secret, you know?"

Dryad nodded, "wow... I'm honored that you told me this top secret. And of course. I promise I won't tell a soul."

"Good." Haze replied. He started enjoying the savory corn soup made by Eurydice.

A long pause after that. But Dryad didn't force him to speak in a rush. Her mind wandered somewhere while waiting patiently for him to continue.

There were many towns and villages throughout the nation during this civil war period which managed to stay relatively untouched by larger conflicts. Some examples include rural communities along the Reindeer River or those located near the mountains. The Grand Town of Luster Shield was one of those examples. These areas had strong agricultural economies which allowed them to remain relatively self-sufficient despite what was happening outside their borders. Besides, this big town was surrounded by tall mountains and rocks that naturally serve as the wall, making it a safe place to settle down.
Dryad just realized something. She had lived here peacefully, away from the conflicts happening elsewhere so that she almost forgot there's a war still ongoing at the border.

Haze remained silent for a minute. After taking a sip of his drink, he went on to explain.
"Alexey's uncle, Sergey or whom we called Seryozha, after retired he built his own Private Military Company and began to recruit members. Of course including Alexey, me and Atreides. After years, the government and official military often hired Alexey and his group for espionage work, or even sent us directly to the battlefield. And as long as our mission completed, we get paid a big sum of money. Yes. We are high-paid mercs. Though some of our members might not be official soldiers, they all undergo specialized training. Most of them had solid military backgrounds and were more experienced than me with special operations."

"Oh, wow.." Dryad commented, seeming a bit surprised as Haze revealed this secret. "Seems like you are all great people."

"Thanks," Haze spoke again with a faint smile. "I might be one of Alexey's underlings, but we were close and he was like a big brother to me. Along with Eury's husband, Atreides, we three have gone through thick and thin together. Like... What do we call it? Ah... sworn brothers. Yes. We might not be related by blood, but our brotherhood built by camaraderie and trust."

Haze let out a pocket watch that he found earlier at the library. He placed it on the table so Dryad could see it better.

"You recognize it as Alvard's watch, right? In fact, this one belongs to Alexey. Sir Alvard also got one for himself, same design but slightly different with his own insignia at the backside. They both got these from our shop. You know... Alexey and Sir Alvard..., both exchanged their pocket watches before we went to answer the duty call. They promised to each other to exchange the items back once we got home. Sadly... that's the last promise that can never be fulfilled."

Dryad nodded her head silently. She glanced at some photographs that were neatly hanging on the wall. One of them depicted someone unfamiliar beside Eurydice. A tall and well-built man with blonde hair.

"That is Eurydice's husband you talked about earlier?" Dryad asked.

Haze followed Dryad's gaze before his eyes back to her. "Oh, yes, he is. My brother-in-law, Vhraz Atreides. He also crafted this watch. He's quite a skilled watchmaker, you know?" Haze said while tapping on the pocket watch.
"Meanwhile I became a librarian, Atreides considered being a horologist. But you know... that was just for undercover. Like me, he actually worked under Alexey. Whenever Alexey was on duty as a sniper, Atreides often paired with him as his spotter, to be precise."

"So where is he now?" Dryad asked. "I never see him around here."

"Atreides went back to the borderline right after Alexey's funeral. He is the second-of-command in our group, after all." He sighed and shook his head a bit, "I bet for God's sake Atreides still holds a grudge towards me because of what happened."

"So Atreides went back to the conflicted area..." Dryad repeated. "What about you, then?"

"Atreides dismissed me." Haze smirked, a hint of disappointment mirrored in his eyes. "What can I say? In his mind I'm a hot-blooded man who might disobey orders and risk the whole operation."

Haze closed his eyes for a while, recalling the moments that unfolded between them before they parted. He seemed to be struggling very much inside. He was a little reluctant to do so because the story was difficult to explain.
"Well... the tragedy happened not long. Around four months ago."

"Four months ago? I see..." Dryad nodded in understanding. No wonder Haze was so depressed. The wounds were still fresh. So Alexey passed away not long before Dryad came to the library.

Back in the library, Haze seemed happy and enjoyed his life, even often having playful banter with Virgil. He was always seen as the busiest librarian between all of them. But he only did that to keep himself distracted, which was his usual way of dealing with things. His cheerful smile was only a mask. Deep down, he was broken. Suffered under guilty feelings that would never be able to wash away.

Haze continued, "so... four months ago we were hired and sent to the southwest border of Northundra. It's was a complicated situation, but long story short... during that battle, I disobeyed Alexey's order and left my post, resulting our enemies found out about our operations and raided us. I bet Alexey was fed up and cursed at me. But despite his emotions, at that chaos, Alexey was still trying to protect me even though I was quite far from his position. He focused on my attackers, and took them down one by one. However, while doing so, he ignored his own safety. Enemy's sniper, out of nowhere, shot him right in chest. Swayed back, his body crashed through the window and fell from three storey building." Haze held the spoon tightly and his hands slightly trembled, as if recalling those events was giving him an unbearable pain. "It was my fault..."

"Oh... Haze... I'm so sorry," Dryad said softly as she placed a hand on Haze's arm to steady him when he suddenly tensed up.

Haze nodded again, slowly. He looked up and met her eyes that were full of sympathy, understanding and concern.

"Right..." he said before swallowing hard and clearing his throat, trying to hide the tremble in his voice. "When Alexey fell, our comrades secured him. But a series of shooting blocked my way so I could not go back to their side. We were separated but luckily, I managed to come out safely too. Back at our base, we had only one doctor left at that time. They said they didn't make it to save Alexey. Then after that, I was dismissed and sent home first to tell the grave news to his only family, Sir Alvard."